World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

34 RISEOFRONALDO

A year afterthesummersagaof2008,CristianoRonaldo

finallycompletedhisworld-recordmovetoRealMadrid.Regular

WorldSoccercolumnistsBrianGlanvilleandJimHoldenvoiced

theiropinionsonthemoveandthewidertransferscene

REALMADRID

R

ealMadridpaid £ 80 million

forCristianoRonaldo. So why

doI keepthinkingofAlfredo

DiStefano?WhetherRonaldo

is“worthit”canonlybeseeninterms

oftime;onehopesandprayshecan

avoidseriousinjury.Realmightargue

thatLuisFigoandZinedineZidane,who

costvastfees,provedvalueformoney

intermsof what Real achieved,thanks

largelytotheirskills.

Ronaldoseemstome,withallhis

panoplyoftalents,unquestionablythe

finestplayerin theworld;vastlymore

versatile thantheunquestionablyand

outstandinglygiftedLionelMessi.Huge

thoughhistransferfeemaybe– and

youwonderwhereit comesfromgiven

Real,whateverthemoneythey’llmake

fromimagerights,are £ 50 0mindebt

• it seemsnokind of coupatallfor
  Manchester UnitedforRonaldois
  surelyirreplaceable.
  Itissuggestedthatthe deal was
  virtuallydone,ifnotat thisprice, a year
  ago.But in theyearwhichhasensued,

Ronaldo– evenif to someextenthe

failedinthe EuropeanCup final– has

hadanothergloriousseasonfor United.

Yes,Cristianoisathearta simplesoul,

“ThereisnodoubtingRibery’stalentbut

hecannotremotelymatchRonaldo”

Brian Glanville

... ’

world-recordmovetoMadrid

r frm M irwh h

,

,

tobecomeinvolvedwiththatvaid

birdbrain ParisHilton. Butwho cares?

wellonthe fieldthatmatters.

Talkofspendinga hugefee for

FranckRibery seemsirrelevant.There

isnodoubtingtheFrenchwinger’stalent

buthecannotremotely matchRonaldo

intermsof all-roundability. Where is the

comparableheading,the devastating

free-kicks?Noanalogy, either, with

United’sunloadingofDavidBeckham,

theeternalone-trickpony,however

muchancillarymoneyhemight

havemadefor Real.

RonaldoandKaka, a snipata mere

£56m, arebeyonddoubttwo glorious

talents,butthere hasnever been a

player at Realtomatchtheinfluence

andachievements of Di Stefano,for

methe secondgreatest footballer

ofall time,surpassedonlybyPele.

DiStefano,thatcompoundofskill,

speed,stamina,flairandfinishingpower,

whocost virtuallynothing,inspiredReal

tothe first five EuropeanCups.At £90m

he’dsurelyhavebeencheapattheprice.

Presentation...

arecord 80 , 000

fanswelcomed

Ronaldo